Freeport-McMoRan 2Q profit dips on one-time costs

DENVER (AP) - Global mining company Freeport-McMoRan on Tuesday reported a 14 percent drop in second-quarter profit on lower copper and gold sales and one-time costs. The Phoenix-based company, the world's largest publicly traded copper producer, blamed the lower sales volume on issues at its Grasberg mine in Papua, Indonesia. For the April-June period, Freeport-McMoRan reported net income after preferred dividends of $947 million, or $2.25 a share, which compared with $1.1 billion, or $2.62 a share, in the year-ago period. Revenue totaled $5.4 billion, essentially unchanged from the second quarter of 2007. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial had predicted, on average, earnings of $2.44 per share and revenue of $5.3 billion. These forecasts typically exclude one-time items. Freeport shares fell 3.5 percent, or $3.76, to... [read full story]